Finding My Bliss…

If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are — if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.
— Joseph Campbell

Hearing Joseph Campbell’s quote for the first time, it was as if the light bulb inside of me had just been turned on. Awakened from the cloud I had been wandering in — a life I had grown to accept — suddenly, I could see clearly through the fog.

But let’s rewind for a hot minute….

My career in online advertising began 10yrs ago and can best be summed up as a series of fortuitous events. I rapidly advanced in a variety of roles simply by beingat the right place at the right time. [Yeah, I was that girl.]

Quite the lucky girl, in fact, that by age 25, I found myself working for a reputable technology company, making a sizable salary, living comfortably in San Francisco, enjoying all that life had to offer. I dined at the newest, most posh restaurants, paid off my car, went to any concert I wanted to, and pretty much bought whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Life was completely carte blanche. [Thank god I was never really much of a handbag girl or I would’ve been in some serious trouble.]

Yet when it came to my day job, there wasn’t any real spark. I didn’t leap out of bed in the morning with vigor and enthusiasm to make a difference. In fact, I didn’t feel like my 9-to-5 gig made any real difference in the world. I wasn’t passionate about the industry that I had so serendipitously fallen into and when cocktail party conversations inevitably led to the latest goings on in my industry, it always felt like I was stifling a yawn. All the while, my inner voice was pleading with me, “Katie! This isn’t you! You’re faking it, girl! Go out and do what you love!”

It wouldn’t be until several years later, back in my hometown of Seattle, where I’d first encounter the encouragement to go and “follow your bliss”and pursue what truly makes me happy.

For those who know me well, my bliss had become so completely obvious over the years. When I thought about what pursuits actually did get me out of bed in the morning with that extra spring in my step, it was easy — it was fitness. When I thought of the times that I felt most alive, it was during or immediately after exercising. I was addicted to the endorphins that came from a good workout and from knowing that I prioritized my well-being — whether it was attending my yoga classes, going for a run through the park by myself or with a friend, or my indoor cycling classes at Flywheel, I have known for quite some time that …..